This is the longest climb of the day

....words I am not anxious to hear as it means (a) a really long climb -- about 5 km total--(a section like Sydenham hill stuck at the end) and b) there will be more hills, though not as long.

But I need to put the day in order.  After a brief walk on the ramparts(!!!) and a lovely breakfast, we met our trusty iron horses.  Mine, M1, is a roadbike, ultegra groupo, bags under the seatand under the crossbar, clip pedals -- a nice bike to ride!

We took a walk up to the castle of Marvao -- incredible views as this is the highest altitude village in Portugal.  Good thing as it meant the first 7.5 km were downhill on a good road but complete with switchbacks.  The riding was great, even with the aforementioned climb and the following lesser climbs.  With the granny gear (Oma gear?), it wasn't too bad.  Rosanne (the ironman) and Richard (the Brit who cycles the Alps) were, of course, the first up, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. Total today,  700m of climbing.

We were treated to a tasty picnic of bread, salad, cheese, roca pears and custard tarts to finish at an incredible viewpoint over the lower land all around.  Fairly perfect.The ride down was through small 2-3 home farm collections.  The fences are piles of stones which they have in abundance and there was a gentle jingle of sheep and goat bells to be heard. This area is designated a nature park meaning that a granite quarry had to be abandoned, but the logging for maintenance is ongoing.

Castelo de Vide indeed has a castle, complete with a fortress and medieval village where people still live within the 13/14 century walls, even though their green bins show they are modern too.  The town is quite vibrant with many little shops in ancient buildings and there were old and young out on the streets enjoying the sunny day.  Today's photo is a view from the castle.The hill in the distance is where we started the day.

My room on the ground floor of our BandB is very nice, but the the bathroom made of marble with a vaulted ceiling, is amazing.  Dinner this evening featured wild deer (from Spain) and chestnuts.  Yum!  Too bad I won't be here for the Chestnut festival in a few weeks.

Thinking of all of you being affected by the hurricane.  We have a bit of rain, which may be finished by the morning -- hoping!